The Beginning of Us (132 page)

I’d sat the pizza down on the kitchen counter by the time I heard him approaching. “You have until this pizza is gone to explain yourself. When the box goes out into the trash, you’re going with it!” I was as serious as a heart attack. He had about three minutes to explain and then he could leave the same way he came in. We were not friends, and just being in the same room with him was making me uneasy.

He sat down on a stool next to me and we ate at the breakfast bar, since I had no other furniture except in my bedroom.

We were halfway through our first piece before he started to talk. Just hearing his voice was enough to remind me how hot it was to have sex with him. “On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate me?”

I sat my slice of pizza down and took a deep breath before I looked at him. “Twenty!”

His eyes got big and he shook his head. “I should have told you the truth from the beginning. I just wanted to spend time with you before you found out. I know I kept things from you, but I swear that I meant what I said. I love you. I always have and I always will.”

“You don’t know what love is. I’d never lie to you, Stosh. I’d never deceive you. I’d do anything to keep you safe. That’s what love is. You didn’t do any of that for me.”

His expression changed. “Are you admitting that you do still love me?”

“How I feel is irrelevant. I’ll never forgive you!” I could feel the slow burn in my throat. Tears were coming and I had to hold them back. He couldn’t see me in pain over him.

“What if I said that everything I did was for a reason? What if I told you that I have a plan to take down your sister?”

I poked him in the chest when I spoke. “You could have given my parents her diary. Instead, you let her destroy my relationship with them. I don’t deserve any of this! I’ve been a good person. I worked hard for my education, while she fucked her life away. You could have ended this before any of this occurred.”

I was so pissed that he was trying to mend things with me. “You’re right. I thought about sitting them down and reading it, but your sister would somehow come out of it smelling like roses. She’s not as stupid as everyone thinks. She’s been one step ahead of the game this whole time. She still doesn’t know I even have the diary.”

“What the hell are you waiting for?”

“There’s something that I wanted out of her plan, or else I never would have gone through with it. She didn’t exactly tell me when you were coming into town. I’d prepared myself to be hurt, by your rejection. After I found the diary, I realized that you had feelings for me the whole time. Then I got selfish.”

I slapped his pizza out of his hand. He put his head down. “What do you mean, you got selfish?”

He folded his hands and acted like I hadn’t violated his space. “It’s been four years. You could have moved on. When I realized you were there, in my house, I couldn’t help myself. Maybe Ivy knew I’d be that way about you. I don’t really care. From the moment that I knew you were there with me, all I wanted to do was be with you. I even warned you that there were things you didn’t know. I wanted to tell you. I would have, if you hadn’t have run out. I never wanted things to happen the way they did.”

“Great, now I feel more used than before. Thanks for clearing that up!” I tossed my pizza back into the box and shut it.

Stosh put his hand over mine, catching me off guard. I pulled away. “Will, I know it seems that way, but I waited for so long to hear you say you loved me. Do you blame me for wanting to have a couple days of heaven? Didn’t you feel happy too?”

I shook my head. “Of course I enjoyed it. I felt like I finally had a chance at being happy. I felt like I had my best friend back.”

Try as I may, I couldn’t stop the tears this time. He may as well have been ripping my heart out of my chest with his bare hands.

He ran his hands through his hair and then covered his face. “You don’t know how much I want that.”

I could tell that he was genuinely upset. It was so hard for me, because I could never stop loving him. Sure, I hated what he’d done to me, but my heart and my mind were not on the same page. “Does she know you’re here?”

He shook his head. “Hell no! Ever since that night, she’s been staying at your parents. I know she’s up to something, but I have no idea what it is.”

“I wish I could believe that.” I started to turn away, but he grabbed my arm and held it tight. “What the…”

“Listen to me.” He finally let go of my arm. “If there was a way to make things right, would you give me another chance?”

He face was dead serious. I didn’t know whether to follow my mind or my heart. At the end of the day, I couldn’t see it happening. “It’s not possible.”

Stosh started pacing around the kitchen. “Dammit, it is possible. I’m going to do whatever it takes, because those two days with you were the best days of my life. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“I think you are going to say whatever you can think of to get in my good graces. Do you have any idea how I feel? Do you have a clue about what you’ve both done to me?”

He looked down at the ground. “Yes. I know exactly what you’re going through. I wish I could take it back.”

“Why are you here, Stosh? What could you possibly have on my sister that would make everything you’ve done better?”

He approached me, getting close enough to touch me, except he didn’t. “I can’t tell you.”

“Just leave! Drive back home and forget about ever knowing me. I’m so sick of all of this. I just want to live my life. I’m tired of the drama that comes with being a part of your and my sister’s lives.”

I walked over and grabbed the pizza box.

He saw what I was doing and grabbed it out of my hands. “You don’t mean that!”

I grabbed the box again, ripping it away from his hands. “Yes I do!”

He wouldn’t give up. He grabbed the box and tossed it on the floor. “I don’t believe you. If you love me half as much as I love you, then I know you’re lying.”

He was staring right at me, challenging what I’d said to him. I didn’t know how to respond. Even as furious as I was, he was right. I was still in love with him. In fact, I couldn’t see myself loving anyone else. “Why does it even matter to you, Stosh? We can’t be together and you know it.”

He reached over and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. “Ivy thinks she’s won. I’ve been on to her since this all began. That’s why I couldn’t tell you. I thought I could handle it all without you getting hurt. I have a plan to destroy your sister, but I have to let this all play out for it to work. I need more time. Things have to happen before I can step in. I just need you to trust me.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I can.”

He grabbed both of my hands and I didn’t pull away. “You have to.” He brought my hands up to his lips and kissed them. “There’s something else you need to know, Will. It has to do with why your sister wanted you to be with me.”

“What? What now?”

“Your sister came home one night drunk. She was a crying mess. After she threw up all over herself, she got so belligerent, that she admitted to not being able to have children again. She cried all night about not being able to give me a child of my own.”

“And this has what to do with me?”

“You’re a smart girl, Willow. Think about it.”

“She wanted me to be a surrogate or something?”

“That would have been too easy for your sister. She doesn’t want you to carry her baby, she wants to take away yours.”

My mouth dropped when it instantly hit me like a ton of bricks. “It’s not possible. You can’t get pregnant any time of month. The average woman is only fertile for forty eight hours.”

“Two days, right? Yeah, all it took was for you to complain to her about having your period. I guess you talked to her about it ruining some plans you had a while back. Even I could get a calendar and look up when you should be ovulating.”

I was already crying. That was taking revenge to a whole different level. “Why would she want me to have your child? Isn’t that against everything she’s ever wanted?”

He sat down on the carpet flooring and put his hands over his face. “Willow, you’re twins. The baby would share the same DNA as if it were her own. She wanted you to get pregnant and then she was going to try to get custody. With your parents being so against you, she knew she had a chance of winning. They see you as a threat. Right now, your parents are all about comforting Ivy. They’re going to do whatever it takes to make her happy, since we allegedly stabbed her in the back.”

“That is the stupidest plan I ever heard of. How could she have known that I’d sleep with you? Who in the hell would even think they could pull off something like this? Did you think you would just knock me up and steal my kid?” I picked up a piece of packing tape and threw it towards him. “How could you use me, Stosh? How could you rip out my heart like you did?”

I was so angry and hurt. If I had a gun, I could have shot them both.

“She said she knew it would work. I didn’t ask her any questions, but somehow she was sure. I wish you knew how much I can’t stand her. When she woke up after her drunken confession, I told her only half of what she’d admitted. I knew that when the time came, I’d be able to use the knowledge I had against her. Look, I get that you hate me right now. I know I fucked up, but I’m going to make it right. I’ll wait for you; as long as it takes. I have a plan.”

He pulled me into a hug, that I didn’t respond to. I just stood there frozen in place. “Is that all you came to say, because I still feel like I’m missing a big part of the puzzle? Granted, learning that my sister thought she could knock me up and then steal my baby was a hell of thing to hear.”

I took a couple steps back and leaned against the counter.

He walked over and leaned beside me. “You wouldn’t have listened if I tried to call.”

He was right.

“So, you’re heading back tonight?”

“Unless you want me to stay?” He didn’t look up when he said it.

More than anything in the world, I felt like I had nowhere to turn to. I was going through all of it alone, not to mention that I had nothing to do with all of this madness. “I still can’t wrap my head around my sister’s ridiculous plan. I’m not pregnant and even if I were, I don’t think I would have told either of you.”

“Did you get your period?”

“No! It’s not … What’s today’s date?” Suddenly, I felt as if I’d been kicked in the stomach.

“The fifth.”

“Oh God! This can’t be happening. You have to leave!” I walked over to my front door and opened it, waiting for him to exit.

He stood in the kitchen, adamant to stay. “There’s a chance isn’t there?”

I shook my head and shut the door, since he obviously wasn’t leaving. This wasn’t happening to me. It couldn’t be happening. I was starting a new job. I had a future ahead of me that I’d worked my whole life for. We’d spent two nights together. Sure, we hadn’t used protection, but it was impossible for my sister to know my schedule like she was claiming, unless she’d been calculating it for months. God, I wondered how many times I had complained about being on my period. I thought about how she took everything I had ever told her and used it against me. How manipulative can one human being be? No, it had to be stress. I couldn’t be pregnant. “No! I must have gotten the dates confused. The move has got me all messed up.”

He didn’t believe me, I could see it in his eyes. “If you were, I wouldn’t tell her. You’re the only person that I want raising my children. I told you that before. I meant every word.”

I smiled. “I appreciate that, but I know I’m not pregnant, besides, even if I was, I wouldn’t want you to be a part of it’s life. Not after everything you’ve done to me. You lost your chance, buddy.”

He was silent for a few moments. Maybe he was thinking of something he could say. I just wanted to be left alone. I think he got the vibe, because he walked over to the door. “Willow, I love you. I’ve always loved you. No matter what I have to do to fix this, I’m going to do it. I won’t give up until we have the life we deserve.” He smiled.

I leaned my head on the door as he started to walk out. “Stosh, thanks for taking the time to come here. I’m glad I know what she’s up to. I know there’s more, but I have a feeling I’m going to find out soon enough.”

“So you believe me?” He got closer to me.

“I want to.”

He put his hands on my cheeks and looked into my eyes. “I’ll make this right. I promise.” He kissed me on the forehead before walking out to his car.

I should have packed up my car and left, but I ended up sitting in the empty living room bawling my eyes out again.

I couldn’t believe my sister had the nerve to try and do the things she was doing to me. It was like some crazy story you hear about on television. This wasn’t a girl who was deprived of nice things. Our parents had money, and a lot of it. They took good care of us and gave us equal gifts.

How she was so different from me made no sense.

I didn’t know if I could trust Stoshua, but I had nothing else to go on.

Now, my only concern was to go out and buy a pregnancy test.

Either way, I had to know.

Chapter 12

When it rains it freaking pours.

I’d reached my breaking point. For my entire life I had trusted my sister. For her whole life, she’d secretly been plotting to ruin me.  Aside from the hurt and devastation of it all, I was just so angry.

Stosh’s visit hadn’t helped. It gave me more reason to be upset. By the time I gotten decent enough to go out to the pharmacy, I was so worked up that I found myself dialing her number.

I was wondering when you’d call.
I hated her tone already.

Shut up, Ivy! You need to shut the hell up and listen. I don’t know what I ever did to you to make you hate me so much, but I’m done being your little voodoo doll. You want to play dirty, then so am I.

You couldn’t hurt a fly.
She wasn’t going to know what hit her.